Wristy Business

Trends & Events

For those with a deep need for self-documentation—for knowing how many hours they sleep; how many calories they consume and burn; just how much time they waste—help is a mere wristband away. UP, a motion-sensitive wristband/smartphone app, designed by Yves Behar’s FuseProject, and introduced last year by electronics brand Jawbone, sits innocuously on the wearer’s wrist, quietly tracking their every movement. Then, whenever the hard facts need to be reviewed, it plugs into a smartphone, iPad, or iPod, and, according to Jawbone, “delivers insights that keep you moving forward.” Marketed as “a holistic approach to a healthy lifestyle,” UP is waterproof, meant to be worn round-the-clock, eventually becoming something people forget about entirely. Until, that is, the vibrating reminder demands they get off their bums and start moving again.